Star Odyssey

Chapter 3633: Provocation

For conscients with fixed forms, when their form was injured, the damage would also be reflected upon the conscient themselves.

Hua Manyi stepped back in shock. How is this possible? "You are actually in the Universe realm. Why is someone from the Tianyuan Megaverse helping the Spirit Nidus?"

The Luminary had sensed Lu Yin’s presence the moment he entered the universe, but even that was already too late. Lu Yin had immediately disturbed the void, leaving Hua Manyi with no way to escape.

Even then, the conscient had been confident. After all, he was one of the Thirteen Luminaries.

Hua Manyi had already speculated about Lu Yin’s strength. There was no doubt that he possessed the strength of a Seraph, and he might even be as strong as Emperor Wu. However, unless one of the Thirteen Luminaries faced an opponent on the same level as the High Seraph, they would always be able to escape. That was the reason behind Hua Manyi’s confidence.

Unfortunately, he had been unaware of Lu Yin’s shocking battle with Emperor Wu. Before that battle, Lu Yin had devoured all the conscients hiding in a parallel universe, which had prevented the other hidden conscients from contacting the Spirit Nidus for a time. If not for that, Hua Manyi would have learned of Lu Yin’s true strength.

Lu Yin was indeed at the same level as the High Seraph.

A single palm strike allowed Hua Manyi to experience Lu Yin’s terrifying power. The Luminary tried to tear through the void with his consciousness and escape, but he was instantly and completely overpowered.

Lu Yin calmly observed Hua Manyi before reaching out to grab him. At the same time, Lu Yin released a powerful burst of consciousness.

Gritting his teeth, Hua Manyi swept out his hand with a flower seal. Petal-like images flickered into view, evoking the passage of time itself as space began to reverse.

Lu Yin was surprised. It resembled a technique from the Ce Secret Art.

Anchoring the Mirari Realm to the Tianyuan Megaverse had deprived both the Spirit Nidus and the Consciousness Megaverse of any real opportunity to comprehend the power of time. Without that limitation, countless experts in those two megaverses might have awakened to the powers of time and space, making them much more difficult to handle.

Even so, time remained ineffective against certain top-tier opponents.

Hua Manyi had used spatial reversal to mimic parallel timelines, simulating the power of time itself. In terms of finesse, his control over consciousness surpassed Wu Wei’s. But in terms of raw power, his consciousness was far beneath Wu Wei’s, and still further beneath Lu Yin’s.

However, using the powers of time or space against Lu Yin might as well be a joke.

Lu Yin raised a hand. Lightstream utilized the power of space to chase after time. With a flicker, Hua Manyi’s flower technique shattered. He stared in shock as Lu Yin grabbed him firmly. "A loss is a loss. If you can’t afford to lose, then don’t bother playing in the future."

With that, Lu Yin tore the void open and vanished from the universe.

He returned to the Ascendant Hall. Without even glancing at the Morrow Behemoth, he headed straight for the Apex Palace.

Lan stared at him in astonishment as Hua Manyi was thrown forward. "Let’s trade."

Hua Manyi glanced around. Lu Yin had not severely injured the conscient, but he also knew exactly where he was, so he had no intention of resisting.

No matter how independent conscients might appear to be, their instinctual desire to survive could not be denied.

They were in the Ascendant Hall. Even if Lu Yin did nothing at all, there was still the High Seraph and other Dukkhans. Forget Hua Manyi—even if all Thirteen Luminaries were present, it might still be impossible for them to escape.

The High Seraph seemed to perpetually stay within the Apex Palace, silently observing the masses from a far removed location.

"One of the Thirteen Luminaries, Hua Manyi."

Hua Manyi looked up at the Apex Palace, his misery readily seen on his face. "It’s been a long time, High Seraph."

The High Seraph’s eyes passed over the conscient to focus on Lu Yin. "Even if the Thirteen Luminaries are hiding within the Spirit Nidus, there’s no way you should have been able to find their locations. I’m very curious, how did you find this rat?"

Lu Yin answered in a confident tone, "I have my ways. If the price is right, I can find another one of the Thirteen Luminaries for you."

The High Seraph nodded. "Alright. What are your terms?"

"You already know."

"Two of the Thirteen Luminaries is enough to exempt Boundless."

Lu Yin sneered. "So much for 'orders cannot be altered or rescinded.' I just wasn’t offering you a high enough price."

The High Seraph stated, "Boundless has already done battle, but on a battlefield that is not in the Consciousness Megaverse."

"The Spirit Nidus is yours, so you can say whatever you want. What about Wu Wei?" Lu Yin pressed for the trade.

The High Seraph’s tone remained indifferent, "You can trade two of the Thirteen Luminaries for Boundless to be exempted from the expedition to the Consciousness Megaverse. What does that have to do with Wu Wei?"

Lu Yin’s expression grew cold. "Are you trying to go back on your word?"

The High Seraph casually waved a hand, and Wu Wei appeared beside him. To Lu Yin’s eyes, Wu Wei was a mass of dark clouds, though each person saw the conscient differently.

The sight of Wu Wei caused Hua Manyi to feel an inexplicable sense of relief. He was no longer the sole focus of attention; some of the attention was now diverted to Wu Wei.

Wu Wei had not expected to suddenly be treated as a bargaining chip. "Lord High Seraph, I have already pledged my loyalty to your Spirit Nidus. You promised me that no one would be allowed to enslave me. I am free."

The High Seraph looked at the conscient. "You are still free."

Wu Wei’s voice dropped low. "Then what is happening right now?"

"Your living arrangements are just being changed," the High Seraph carelessly replied.

Wu Wei was furious, yet they were also powerless to resist.

The High Seraph turned to Lu Yin. "Two of the Thirteen Luminaries can be exchanged for Boundless to be exempted from the upcoming war. Alternatively, you can trade Hua Manyi for Wu Wei. Choose."

Lu Yin understood. "If I capture another one of the Thirteen Luminaries, will I only be able to do a direct exchange?"

"Correct."

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. He briefly considered the choice and then kicked Hua Manyi closer to the Apex Palace.

Caught off guard, Hua Manyi crashed into the building, thoroughly humiliating him. He felt completely powerless and wanted to curse, but he chose to restrain himself.

Since he had been traded once, he could be traded again. If he ended back up in that man's hands, he would be done for.

The High Seraph arched a brow. "You won’t reconsider?"

Lu Yin sneered. "I’m not confident that I can capture another one of the Thirteen Luminaries. If I agree to that deal, you might just decide to launch the invasion tomorrow, and then I wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it."

The High Seraph chuckled. "As suspicious as ever. Very well."

With that, he casually tossed Wu Wei to Lu Yin.

The conscient instinctively tried to escape, but at that moment, two overwhelmingly powerful consciousnesses dropped down like the sky was collapsing. They belonged to the High Seraph and Lu Yin. Both struck at the same time, and Wu Wei was nearly crushed to death just by the assault of their consciousnesses.

As a conscient and one of the Thirteen Luminaries, when had Wu Wei ever felt so thoroughly suppressed by another’s consciousness?

Seeing that scene caused Hua Manyi’s scalp to tingle. These two were complete monsters! The two humans had completely overpowered the two conscients in every aspect.

Ultimately, Lu Yin took Wu Wei away.

As for Hua Manyi, he remained in the Ascendant Hall. There was hope of using him to find more of the conscients hidden in the Spirit Nidus. If those efforts failed, he could also be sent to the Consciousness Domain to serve as Wu Wei’s replacement. As a Luminary, Hua Manyi was certainly qualified to serve as a guardian.

The High Seraph was not worried that Hua Manyi would refuse. The man was all too familiar with the nature of conscients.

When intelligent lifeforms were driven by emotions, they could at times defy death and push beyond their limits. However, conscients would never do such a thing. This was a fact that the Spirit Nidus had repeatedly confirmed over countless years.

Creatures that were obsessed with survival often found it harder to survive.

Lu Yin took Wu Wei back to the Hundred Grasses Domain, but he did not immediately Possess the conscient and examine their memories. There was a chance that the High Seraph could observe Lu Yin. Only after he was back on Boundless, with the Origin Progenitor nearby, would Lu Yin feel comfortable enough to proceed.

Just as Lu Yin arrived in the Hundred Grasses Domain and was preparing to Possess Wu Wei, he looked up and suddenly saw a familiar figure appear in the distance. Meng Sang had arrived.

The Seraph had appeared outside of the Hundred Grasses Domain, but he was clearly headed for Boundless.

On the ship, many experts turned to stare at the approaching Meng Sang.

He frowned. One, two, three... Why are there so many experts? He saw several Dukkhans, not to mention a considerable number of peak powerhouses. The overall number of powerful cultivators aboard Boundless could rival the hidden power of the Gate of Laws or the Primal Beastland. The battleship truly lived up to its status as the home of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s most powerful elites.

Because he had been with True God, Meng Sang had avoided the temporal reversion, and as a result, he had not returned to the Spirit Nidus. However, he had lost all of his memories of the years that he had spent in the Tianyuan Megaverse, and thus he knew little about it.

Seeing the sheer number of powerhouses on Boundless was quite shocking.

He remembered when the battleship had gone to the Primal Beastland. At that time, just a single toad and Wilderness God had been enough to force Emperor Wu into revealing his beast form. Boundless could not be underestimated.

"Meng Sang requests an audience with Lord Lu." After arriving at Boundless, Meng Sang did not simply board the ship.

Many eyes stared at the Seraph from a distance. Some belonged to cultivators who hoped to join Boundless but were unable to. Others were present to search for Hundred Grasses. Many people simply liked to stay close to Boundless despite the terrifying auras that would occasionally sweep over the area. The battleship’s proximity offered them a sense of security.

No one dared to create any kind of trouble near Boundless.

Above the bow of the ship, Yu Shan looked over. Meng Sang saw the man, whose presence badly confused the Seraph.

There were many people in the Spirit Nidus who could not understand why the High Seraph had not rescued Yu Shan.

In fact, not even Lu Yin understood this. Yu Shan was afraid of the High Seraph, and he expected the man to kill him, but even the High Seraph did not know about his disciple’s fear. The man was not omniscient.

In that case, why had the High Seraph not yet rescued Yu Shan? He had simply left him hanging there, bound to a tree above Boundless’s bow. It was a humiliating situation.

The longer Yu Shan was left on Boundless, the less that Lu Yin understood the situation.

Lu Yin had put Yu Shan in the Champions' Stage Purgatory, and he had even asked the Origin Progenitor to examine the man, but there was nothing wrong with him.

"Enter," Lu Yin’s voice rang out.

Meng Sang stepped onto Boundless, where the first thing that he saw was Astral Anura.

The toad was crouched close to where Meng Sang had stepped onto the battleship, the golden skin giving the toad a festive appearance. However, Meng Sang knew better. The toad was vicious and had even overpowered Emperor Wu once.

After that, the Seraph saw Ce Wangtian, Mu Zhu, Luo Shan, Progenitor Xi, and many more.

Meng Sang saw one powerful cultivator after another. While some were not yet Ortusers, the Seraph still felt a sense of danger from the people.

All who were qualified to join Boundless to travel to the Spirit Nidus were extraordinary individuals who far surpassed their peers.

Sovereign Dou Sheng held his golden cudgel, his desire to fight written boldly on his face as he stared at Meng Sang. He had been restraining himself for a long time. During the battle in the Primal Beastland, he had not been allowed to join the fight, which had been quite frustrating for him. After all, he had only recently broken through to the Origin realm, and he craved a fierce and satisfying battle.

That was the reason for the hint of provocation in the man’s eyes as he stared at Meng Sang.

Meng Sang ignored the man and continued forward. He was all too familiar with that expression, as he had once received it from Emperor Wu. That battle maniac had wanted to challenge every single Seraph.

Lu Tianyi, Chu Yi, Yuan Qi... Further away, hanging from a tree, were the Megalith and the Pridebeast.

Each creature that Meng Sang saw was formidable.

Shao Chen opened his eyes and met Meng Sang’s gaze.

At that instant, Shao Chen felt an unusual urge to attack. He had learned about what had happened during the thirty-seven years that had been rolled back from Lu Yin. In that alternate timeline, Meng Sang had massacred everyone in Astral-10, even Shao Chen himself. While the headmaster’s death was one thing, it was unforgivable that all the students in Astral-10 had also perished; their blood had formed a river of death that flowed through the academy.

Even if those events had occurred in a branch stream of the River of Aeons and been undone, it was a fact that the only reason why the massacre had not occurred was because Lu Yin had turned back time. It was not because Meng Sang had chosen not to act.

Meng Sang looked at the Mad Dean. A mere Spirit Ancestor. Shao Chen had taken a unique path to power, and his mortal world made his future unpredictable. But despite his current realm, at this moment, Meng Sang found Shao Chen’s eyes to be far more antagonizing than those of the warrior with the golden cudgel. What was the meaning behind these eyes? Meng Sang was a Seraph, but aboard Boundless, was everyone and anyone allowed to provoke him?

If Emperor Wu had been visiting instead of Meng Sang, the Seraph would have already erupted in rage.

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